A continuous casting mold for metals is described in German Published Patent No. 195 81 604 T1, in which a uniformly thick mold plate made of copper or a copper material is connected to a support plate made of steel via a plurality of bolts. As a result of the thermally caused expansion of the mold plates in the casting operation, there comes about, particularly in the case of short bolts, a non-negligible bending stress and tensile stress in the bolts. Depending on the fastening of the bolts to the mold plate, in the case of welded-on bolts, failure of the welding connection may occur, or, in the case of screwed-in bolts, overstressing of the thread may occur. In the extreme case, cracks in the mold plate may even occur. In order to avoid this, it is provided in German Published Patent No. 195 81 604 T1 that one may bolt together the mold plate and the supporting plate in a sliding arrangement, so that the mold plate is movable in three dimensions relative to the supporting plate. This is achieved by using sliding fastening means, and by overdimensioning the through-holes in the supporting plate. A lateral or two-dimensional movement of the bolts, and consequently of the mold plate, is possible. In addition to this measure, disk-shaped spring washers are proposed, preferably in a stacked arrangement, in order to maintain the tension of the bolts even at high temperatures. The spring washers are used, in this context, from a gear technology point of view, as an articulating system having one degree of freedom, that is, as a sliding fit.
This attempt at a solution is plagued by the disadvantage that, when using steel spring washers, a not inconsiderable static friction appears between the spring elements. Based on the plurality of contact surfaces between the spring washers, as well as between the supporting plate and the mold plate, the static friction forces add up, so that a stress-free relative displacement of the mold plate is impossible.